John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

We inherited this problem. The Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, and I had an initial meeting with Commissioner Borg to discuss how the balance of the 34,000 tonnes of mackerel that were illegally landed would be dealt with. Our objectives were to minimise the impact of the quota reductions on the majority of fishermen who had little or nothing to do with illegal fishing, to set the reductions at a reasonable level — it is important to recognise that we secured a reduction of 9,000 tonnes on the original 34,000 tonnes — and to spread these over six years. I had a final meeting with Commissioner Borg on 18 January and he agreed to the six-year payback, the reduction of 9,000 tonnes on the original figure and backloading. The deduction for this year will be 3,686 tonnes. In each of the subsequent years it will be 4,178 tonnes. This will pay back the amount declared in respect of the incidents of over-fishing.

The court cases to which the Deputy refers will be subjected to the rigours of the court process. Neither the Minister nor I would interfere in that process. The cases must run their course through the courts and be dealt with accordingly.

We convinced the Commission to accept a deal based on the fact that we wanted to ensure that people who were not involved in illegal fishing would be able to earn a decent living for the next five to six years. The Commissioner and his committee recognised that and have accepted the proposals we put forward.

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